Serkets
by Keagen
Summary: WHAT IF STORY: Magic needs concentration, but what about Dragon Speak? Setting is ep 3x1. Spoilers and Death Fic. No pairing.


**Idea that wouldn't leave me alone. Enjoy. A what if story. There are ****_spoilers! _**

"Not quite. Merlin suspects me," Morgana stated before turning around towards where Merlin was hiding. With a startled gasp, Merlin quickly ducked behind the root that he was using for cover. He could hear some more footsteps before Morgause replies.

"Has he told Arthur?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Not yet, but he will."

"Well, then we must stop him."

"That will not be difficult." Merlin could practically hear the smirk in her voice.

"Why?"

Her voice louder this time, she says, "Because he's already here."

Merlin hesitated before turn his head towards where Morgana and her sister were. When he saw both of them looking at him, he gasped and scrambled back. He wanted to be facing them rather they facing his back. He looked back and forth between Morgana and Morgause. Morgana tilted her head, smiling. However, this wasn't one of her nice smiles; it was more of a mocking smile. She shook her head.

"Did you really think that I was that _stupid_, Merlin?"

Merlin only looked between the two woman before running away. He knew that any second, Morgause would send her men after him. He needed to get some distance between them and get to Camelot as quick as possible. Arthur needs to know. Merlin glanced back a few times, trying to see the men who were chasing him. He couldn't see them, however he could hear them.

Once in a while, a branch would slap his face, leaving a red mark across his flesh. The branches also scratched up his hands while trying to run away. Merlin glanced behind him one more time before round a tree. Unfortunately for him, a man was there waiting for him. Merlin ran straight into the wool bag that the man was holding.

Merlin opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He immediately could feel something binding his hands and arms, however, he didn't had the chance to see it before two men had grabbed him and prop him up on his knees. Merlin hissed at both the new bruises on his knees and from the blood rushing from his head. He looked up to see Morgause studying him, her face emotionless.

"You intrigue me, Merlin," she spoke softly. "Why does a lowly servant continue to risk everything for Arthur and for Camelot?"

Merlin slowly drift his gaze down to the dirt floor. Why? Because a dragon told him that it was his destiny. Because he wasn't going to just stand there when he knows he could stop someone from killing Arthur with his magic. Because he knows Arthur is a good man.

"You know the answer, but you're not telling me; why?"

Merlin looked back up at her before looking back down. Morgause shifted, getting slightly impatient.

"Come on, time and again you put your life on the line," she continued while pacing around him. When she got to his left, she kneel down to his eye level. "There must be a reason."

Merlin refused to meet her eye, staring straight ahead. He swallowed before speaking. "I believe in a fair and just land."

"And you think Arthur will give you that?" Merlin could hear her disbelief, but he could also hear genuine curiosity. Merlin nodded.

"I know it."

"And then what?" she asked, standing back up. She started pacing back and forth. "You think you'll be recognized, Merlin? Is that it? All this, so one day, you can be a servant boy to the king?" she asked. Merlin still wouldn't meet her eye. He had heard many times about how people would be curious as to if he wanted to be recognized. Of course, being recognized would be nice, however not in the way that most people thought of.

"No. There's something more. Something you're not telling me, isn't there?" she asked, however it was more of a statement. Merlin clench his jaw and met her eyes. He disliked how close her guess was.

"I told you," he replied defiantly.

"Well. You can take your secret to your grave." Merlin and Morgause continued to stare at each other, both trying to figure each other out. Morgause finally took a step towards him and spoke a magical enchantment. As soon as her eyes flickered gold, the chains that were binding Merlin suddenly tighten painfully. He gasped, looking down. At first, he wondered if she was going to strangle him like a boa snake would. Even though the chains wasn't moving, he found the inability to breathe deeply disturbing.

Morgause stepped towards him again, this time more threatening. "You chose to poison one of my own. You may regret that." She walked away from him and out of his view. At the moment, he was focusing more on breathing. He glanced to his right and found her and her men walking away from him. Maybe he was right about her wanting to strangle him.

When he was sure they weren't watching, Merlin quickly look down at his chains and tried struggling in them, in hopes he could loosen them. He struggled with them for a while, feeling new bruises form. He looked around, making sure that no one was near or watching, before whispering an enchantment. However, instead of loosening like Merlin had intended, the chains tighten. He grunted at the pain before looking down at it, confused. He tried the spell again, this time strong. Yet the results was still the same, it tightened.

Quickly realizing that that one spell won't work, he tried another. With another failed attempted, Merlin had a suspicion that it was enchanted. He stopped, focusing on breathing, he lung capacity smaller now. When he wasn't feeling as lightheaded, he looked down to try another spell. A clacking noise echoed through the trees, catching Merlin's attention. A sense of panic crept into his heart. He had a bad feeling that he knew what it was.

With a new urgency, he looked down to the chains again, this time trying to struggle and break them. A creaking branch caught his attention. Was there only one creature? If there was, it was really fast. Oh, he hoped it was only one. He continued to yank and pull at the chains. Once in a while, he had to stop just to catch his breath. The tight chains were a real nuisance. Something disturbed the earth to his right and he glanced at his, dread slowly growing in his stomach. However, it wasn't until he saw the huge scorpion tails did he realized just what the creatures were: Serkets.

He remembered hearing about them somewhere. This must be in their nest somewhere. In the three years that Merlin had been with Gaius, there were only one man who had been stung by a serket. The poison quickly kill the man, and all Gaius could do was give the poor victim some potions to help the pain.

Merlin said another enchantment, however cried out in a mixture of pain and frustration. What could he do? He looked up to the serkets and realized with dread that they were getting closer. And they were _fast_. Merlin could tell they knew that he was defenseless. But wait, he wasn't. Realizing that he could use his magic on the serkets, he quickly sent a spell towards one of the creatures. However, all it did was hit it back by a foot before quickly recovering. In fact, all the spell did was make it madder. All the serkets hesitated, as if realizing that maybe this human could defend himself.

He turn to his right and sent another spell in that direction. However, the second the last syllable left his mouth, a sharp pain blossomed in his back, centering at the bottom middle. He cried out in pain, arching his back. It hadn't even been a minute and he could already feel the poison inject into his body. He lurched forward in pain. Remembering that there was still one behind him, he turn and shouted at the creature, sending his magic towards it. The creature went flying.

Merlin gasped, trying to keep breathing. He felt dizzy and he was in pain. It was then that he also so happened to remember Gaius saying something about the poison being painful. Merlin couldn't even move without feeling immense pain, every muscle and bone aching. He doubled over, knowing that it would make the wound worse, but not having the strength to sit up.

Kilgharrah. He needed to call him, he could help. However, when Merlin tried to remember the words to speak, to call the dragon, his mind came up blank. He always read that magic needs concentration, but he never realized that Dragon Speak needed it, too. But then, it was magic. Even so, he didn't want to just give up, so he tried calling Kilgharrah. The words came out too softly and slurred, and Merlin's strength left him. He fell to his side, groaning in pain when the chains dug further into his sides. He wanted to get up, to keep fighting, but his vision was too busy swimming and he found himself closing his eyes.

Arthur growled to himself and slammed his pen down. Merlin was late. No, not late. Missing. He hadn't seen the big-eared servant for almost two days now. He remembered Gaius talking about it, being concern. However, Arthur had been a bit busy at the time and hadn't paid much attention to that fact. Now, though, it was all he could think of. He sighed. If anything, it'd be a good excuse to take a break.

He walked down the stairs from his bedroom, looking for Leon. When he found the tall man, he quicken his pace. "Leon!"

Leon looked over his shoulder and was surprise to see Arthur there. He turned around so he was facing him and asked, "My lord?"

"Set up a patrol. Merlin's missing. We're leaving in the hour."

Concern flickered across his face before he bowed and ran off to prepare the horses. Arthur sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Yes, this isn't the first time with Merlin. However, something didn't felt right. He turned around and headed back to his room. He was going and needed to get ready himself.

They have been riding for what felt like hours. All of the knight's rear end hurt and the sun was getting low. They have yet once seen any signs of Merlin. Arthur sighed, deciding that enough was enough was enough and that it was time to go home. He turned his head around to notify his decisions to the others when something caught his eye. Something was lying on the forest ground. It looked as if whatever it was had been lying there for a while.

He slid off his horse, eyes never leaving the object. The other knights asked him was he was doing, but Arthur ignored them. Whatever that was, something wasn't right. It wasn't until he was two yards from the lump did he realized that it was Merlin. He jogged the last two yards and landed on his knees. He scanned his eyes over Merlin, taking in his appearances. A silver, new looking chain was wrapped around his arms and hands. He appeared unharmed and Arthur sighed in relief. Until he looked up into Merlin's face. He was pale as a ghost and coated in sweat. Arthur didn't needed medical knowledge to know he was deathly ill.

Percival jogged over to where Merlin and Arthur was. Noticing the chain, Percival easily grabbed it and broke it from Merlin. Arthur quickly took it off the limp man; he didn't like the image of chains being on Merlin. Arthur grabbed Merlin's face, noticing how cold his skin felt, and shook him gently. "Merlin?" Arthur breathed, not daring to speak loudly.

Merlin groaned softly, eyes clenched tight in what Arthur believed to be pain. Slowly, Merlin's blue eyes opened, peering at Arthur with confusion. They were glassy and Arthur had a sinking feeling that he wasn't completely seeing. "Merlin?" he asked again.

Recognition shown in Merlin's eyes, however they were quickly closed again as Merlin weakly cringed in pain. He opened them again and took a shuddering breath. "Arthur, you have to go. Serkets," Merlin whispered. Arthur shook his head.

"No, I'm taking you with," he stated, irritated that Merlin would even suggest leaving him.

Merlin shook his head slowly, everything he said coming out in slurs. "No, Arthur, no. I'm dying."

This time it was Arthur whom shook his head. He didn't want to believe that his best friend was dying. He already had to go through with his father dying, how was it fair that he had to go through this, too? He just didn't know what to say. He had a slight suspicion that even if they brought Merlin, he would die on the way; Merlin looked horribly weak.

Arthur's eyes caught what looked like a blood stain on the servant's back. Confused, he gently rolled Merlin on his side to get a better view. Arthur gave a choking gasp. There was a scabbed, infected stabbed wound in his lower back. _Serkets._ He had gotten stung.

Swallowing hard, he rolled Merlin back onto his back. How long have Merlin been here? Suffering under the effects of the poison? He sat back on his heels, feeling disbelief and horror fill his stomach. His best friend has been suffering without him even knowing.

Merlin grabbed Arthur's wrist, distracting him from his guilt trip. Merlin's grip was weak, however his eyes were staring steadily at Arthur. He knew that Merlin had something he wanted Arthur to hear.

"Arthur, you'll be a great king," Merlin breathed slowly, trying hard to get everything out. Arthur wanted to disagree, but he didn't want to interrupt him. Merlin made a quiet choke noise before continuing, even softer this time. "Don't trust Morgana."

Merlin's eye fluttered close and his hand fell down limp. Arthur stared at the servant before in disbelief. He called his name and even shook his name, but Merlin never once stirred. Arthur stayed by his side, ignoring everything else, and just studied Merlin's face. Twenty minutes had passed and Merlin finally stopped breathing.


End file.
